Seedfork said:
How does a seller determine he has enough plants to sell, how does he determine what condition the plants are in, how does he determine anything about his plants before selling on the auction if he does not take the time to look at them at least well enough to count to up to three or four at most and make a note of that for the auction? I agree it would be simpler for the seller to list the plants without paying much attention to them, I surely hope that is not the reason so many vendors list their plants as single fans...because they don't have the time or energy to differentiate? Maybe I am not understanding the process.
It's fine with me...the sellers can list single fans if they want...it just seems like a terrible business practice. Most people avoid buying single fans and that just seems to be common knowledge.
I don't think it's a matter of not knowing or caring. If a bed of single fans are lined out in the fall, many of them may be immediately auctioned off for spring delivery. Some of them may emerge with a small second or third fan in the spring, but a fan with small tag-along sprouts really can't/shouldn't be listed as a double fan, so the seller auctions what they have at the time of listing.
Even if the seller is auctioning for immediate shipment, and a decent single fan plant has a small second fan, listing it as a single fan not only avoids complaints, but also generates goodwill, in that the buyer is pleased to receive a little extra. Space in the auction title is limited, and 1F/2F is standard terminology.
Apparently, enough people buy single fans for the practice to be continued. Generally, we're talking about plants which are in limited supply, and the object of an obsession. Plus, it's an auction format, and a low starting price will always generate interest. When faced with the choice of single fan or no fan, the collector will generally go for the single fan, if the price is attractive.
The problem with sizing daylilies by "fans" is that the term is vague. There was a time when it meant a
mature fan, i.e. one with a scape scar on the crown, then it morphed into the undefinable "blooming-size" fan, but that was still too confining for some sellers, now we're at SF, which can be anything.
I've bought quite a few singles on the Lily Auction, and I know who the stingy sellers are. For the most part, a single fan from a hybridizer's garden is going to be pretty robust.
